I was in Calgary last week. The skyline in no way is comparable to Toronto or Chicago, but that being said, Brookfield and The Bow from behind look fantastic. Unfortunately I wasn't able to snap any pictures, but I did appreciate in person the look of those two on the skyline.

I was in Calgary last week. The skyline in no way is comparable to Toronto or Chicago, but that being said, Brookfield and The Bow from behind look fantastic. Unfortunately I wasn't able to snap any pictures, but I did appreciate in person the look of those two on the skyline.

I haven't been to Calgary, but I have been to Chicago several times and I live in the GTA so my opinion is just based on Google Street View. In terms of downtown leased office space Toronto has 73.4 million square feet of office space and Calgary has 42.2 million square feet - http://www.jll.ca/canada/en-ca/Resea...3-2016-JLL.pdf . However, one thing that Calgary might be missing is the large quantity of residential towers that Toronto has in the downtown core which results in a lot people living downtown and results in a vibrant downtown core.

It would be interesting to know how many highrises over 12 stories are in Calgary versus Toronto. Both cities have fairly narrow city streets with many urban canyons, which gives a big city feel. Certainly the average height would be more in Toronto, but at street level the urban canyons make a city look big not so much the tower heights (just my opinion). In any case, I hope to get a chance to visit Calgary sometime, I have had family members live there and they liked the city.

Having visited LA's downtown I was completely underwhelmed. It felt tiny compared to Calgary's even though it has some supertall buildings. Calgary's made some great improvements in the last decade but still lacks a lot of DT residential. That will improve with buildings like Telus Sky going up. Our most bustling area is actually south of DT in the Beltline. That is where the majority of condos are being built.

__________________And the word was death, and the word was without light, the new beatitude: “Good luck, you’re on your own”

I was in Calgary last week. The skyline in no way is comparable to Toronto or Chicago, but that being said, Brookfield and The Bow from behind look fantastic. Unfortunately I wasn't able to snap any pictures, but I did appreciate in person the look of those two on the skyline.

It's interesting you liked the Bow from behind. That is the angle most Calgarians seem to find unflattering.

__________________And the word was death, and the word was without light, the new beatitude: “Good luck, you’re on your own”

Haven't been out to Calgary since 2009, Im excited to see the new buildings. Probably going next year, by that time Telus Sky should be close to done. It'll be a huge change by then! Pumped to see it.

It's changed a lot since then. The two most obvious additions will be BP and Telus sky but there's also EAP and it's twin plus many many new condos in the Beltline. East Village will also be a major sight to see with the new Central Library, National Music Centre and multiple condo buildings built and under construction. I also highly recommend you go see the Peace bridge and the newly redesigned St. Patrick's island next to the Zoo.

__________________And the word was death, and the word was without light, the new beatitude: “Good luck, you’re on your own”

Having visited LA's downtown I was completely underwhelmed. It felt tiny compared to Calgary's even though it has some supertall buildings. Calgary's made some great improvements in the last decade but still lacks a lot of DT residential. That will improve with buildings like Telus Sky going up. Our most bustling area is actually south of DT in the Beltline. That is where the majority of condos are being built.

Houston is pretty similar in that respect. I haven't been in 12 years (that might change soon...), but to me the downtown felt pretty lifeless, and that's in comparison to where Calgary was at in 2005.

Of course, you get out of downtown Houston and into places like the Galleria or the medical district and things are happening, but that's the case in cities like L.A. too.

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"The only thing that gets me through our winters is the knowledge that they're the only thing keeping us free of giant ass spiders." -MonkeyRonin

Having visited LA's downtown I was completely underwhelmed. It felt tiny compared to Calgary's even though it has some supertall buildings.

Tiny compared to Calgary's?! I disagree completely. DTLA definitely has big city heft in a way that only Toronto, Montreal and maybe Vancouver can exceed among Canadian cities. Both in terms of skyscrapers, as well as just vibrant street scenes. No question that DTLA's busiest hubs of pedestrian activity are grittier than what you'd see in Calgary, but I think that maybe after another 100 years of growth, downtown Calgary would be lucky to match DTLA.

Tiny compared to Calgary's?! I disagree completely. DTLA definitely has big city heft in a way that only Toronto, Montreal and maybe Vancouver can exceed among Canadian cities.

Downtown LA has many large and elaborate heritage buildings from the early 20th century. A lot more than any Canadian city. But it has fewer postwar residential buildings than most Canadian cities.

For fun, here are views of downtown LA and Calgary at roughly the same scale (the tallest LA building is about 20% taller than the tallest one in Calgary).

When I've visited Calgary I've found that the largest office towers are pretty much exactly like the big office towers in large cities, but that things fall off quickly a few blocks away. It is like a large traditional North American CBD grafted onto a small, new city. Both Calgary and LA have a lot of holes and surface lots.

^ Thanks for the illustrations, someone. It might be fair to say that they're comparable, but I don't think anyone could reasonably say that DTLA feels "tiny" compared to Calgary. That certainly isn't the impression that I got when I was there.

Charlotte has a nice skyline, but in terms of downtown scale, it appears to me to be an order of magnitude smaller than Calgary (although admittedly it is very difficult to find aerial photos from similar distance and angle to properly compare).

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Confucius says:
With coarse rice to eat, with water to drink, and my bended arm for a pillow - I have still joy in the midst of these things. Riches and honors acquired by unrighteousness are to me as a floating cloud.